The many instances of Ibn Taymiyyah's exemplary patience have amazed all those who have come to know of the trials he endured in upholding the traditions of the salaf.

This book is a translation of Qa'idah fī 'l-Sabr which is included in Jami' al-Masa'il, a collection of Ibn Taymiyyah's shorter works compiled by our respected Shaykh, the Muhaqqiq Muhammad 'Uzair Shams. Although the treatise is short, it nonetheless contains much benefit and lessons and illustrates Ibn Taymiyyah's psychological disposition which strengthened him during his trials and tribulations, and furthermore allowed him to find peace and contentment in situations where most would only fall into despair and depression. Perhaps it will direct us similarly when we face inevitable times of hardship and difficulty.

Ibn Taimiyah was barely seventeen, when Qadi Al-Maqdisi authorized him to issue Fatwa (legal verdict). Qadi remembered with pride that it was he who had first permitted an intelligent and learned man like Ibn Taimiyah to give Fatwa. At the same age, he started delivering lectures. When he was thirty, he was offered the office of Chief Justice, but refused, as he could not persuade himself to follow the limitations imposed by the authorities.

Imam Ibn Taimiyah's education was essentially that of a Hanbali theologian and jurisconsult. But to his knowledge of early and classical Hanbalism, he added not only that of the other schools of jurisprudence but also that of other literature.

He had an extensive knowledge of Quran, Sunnah, Greek philosophy, Islamic history, and religious books of others, as is evident from the variety of the books he wrote.